Kaedros stilled. His eyes sharpened like a blade.
"Pardon? There must be some mistake. We already declined."
Taria nodded firmly beside him.
Percival laughed, a low, mocking sound. "You don’t have a choice. You’ll do as you’re told."
Mana surged through Kaedros, his eyes glowing a fierce blue as faint wisps of aura coiled around him. His face darkened, voice low. "I take orders from no one."
Taria shifted uneasily, hand hovering close to the cool metal of her spear. But Zevrak didn’t flinch. After all, what could a low-rank hunter do to someone like him?
Kaedros considered it, pouring all his mana into a single inferno, leveling the room. But even in his Dragon form, he wasn’t confident he could defeat Zevrak.
The man must be at rank four or at least three.
’....I’m still too weak..’ He thought bitterly, forcing himself to cut off the flow of mana.
Zevrak nodded with smug satisfaction. "Good choice. Don’t bare your fangs at those above you, boy. I like your spirit, but you’ll follow this order. I am, after all, Master of the Solmere’s bounty hunter’s Association."
Kaedros gritted his teeth. "The Association isn’t a military force. We’re not bound to obey every superior like trained dogs."
"Oh, but we are." Zevrak’s lips curled.
"You signed the contract when you joined. There’s a clause compliance with royal decrees. It’s why most lords hate having us in their lands."
"You’re not the King," Kaedros said flatly.
"I might as well be, in Solmere."
Kaedros stared coldly. "Sure. You and two others."
The reminder clearly irritated Zevrak. Sharing control of Solmere with the Celestial Order, and worse, the Lythienne heir, was not something he liked to dwell on.
"That’ll change," he muttered. "Soon, there’ll be only one left to share it with."
’...so that’s the plan... Take out Rauk...’ Kaedros’s mind raced. The Lythienne heir was the only one from that house showing interest in Solmere. But what he couldn’t yet figure out was why he and Taria mattered to any of this.
"There must be a reason you want us on Rauk’s team," Kaedros said casually.
Zevrak didn’t hesitate. "I want ears in the Forbidden zone."
Kaedros raised a brow. "That’s it? Spy work?"
He didn’t believe that for a second. The Celestial Order had just sent assassins after them. So why would they want the same thing as the Association? Unless... they didn’t. They were cooperating, but not fully.
"You want us to spy," Kaedros repeated flatly.
Zevrak shrugged. "Yes."
Liar, Kaedros thought.
"Why us? You could plant any spy in the team."
"The boy wants fresh recruits. You and the girl are perfect. No ties to instructors. No dependency. No allegiance. Just potential. In other words, you’re unaffiliated."
Kaedros almost laughed. So much for staying low. His efforts to keep a low profile had backfired in the worst possible way.
"He won’t trust us," Kaedros warned.
"Maybe. But he’ll lower his guard."
Kaedros narrowed his eyes. "Let me make this clear, we’re not killing anyone for you. And he’s got Knight Vexa at his side."
Zevrak waved a hand dismissively. "Rank two, I know. I’m not asking for his head. Just your ears."
Too convenient, Kaedros thought. ’...so you don’t want Rauk dead... or do you want something else?..’
"What kind of information are you really after?"
"If I knew, I wouldn’t need you to spy," Zevrak snapped. "Just follow orders."
Kaedros leaned forward slightly, voice hard. "I decline."
The silence that followed was like a blade sliding free of its sheath.
Zevrak’a face twisted. Veins bulged across his forehead, and his eyes turned a sickly shade of purple.
His voice exploded with raw power, followed by a violent surge of red aura that rocked the room.
The table shuddered. Cups shattered. The air pulsed with energy.
Taria screamed as the pressure knocked her off her feet, her spear clattering to the floor. Kaedros grunted as his chair cracked beneath him, the crushing aura pinning him in place like a mountain on his back.
But still, he raised his head, jaw clenched and his eyes like ice.
With deliberate slowness, he opened his mouth.
"What’s in it for us?"
Taria gasped in relief, rising slowly on shaky legs, her face trembling.
Zevrak stared at Kaedros in disbelief. The boy had endured a taste of his rank four aura and still had the strength to speak. Maybe there’s something to him after all... Too bad what they had planned would waste that.
"What’s in it for you?" Zevrak sneered. "Simple. I don’t kill you."
Kaedros’s expression froze. "What do you mean?"
"As Master of Solmere bounty hunters Association, I have the authority to issue punishment for any crimes committed by bounty hunters. You two are guilty."
Taria’s eyes widened. "What? We haven’t done anything! That’s insane!"
Kaedros didn’t speak. He had an idea where this was going.
"Not true," Zevrak said calmly. "In fact, it was quite recent. In a dark alley."
The assassins, Kaedros realized. He’s using that against us.
"But they were assassins! They tried to kill us!" Taria shouted.
"It was self-defense!"
Zevrak gave her a dead look. "And your witnesses? Oh, none? That’s unfortunate."
"What are you talking about?" Kaedros asked, deathly still.
Was the assassination attempt orchestrated by both the boubty hunter’s Association and the Celestial Order?
"Don’t act dumb," Zevrak grunted. "There’s no point, not now. The Inquisitors have caught on."
Taria gasped and Kaedros turned to her, brow furrowed.
"They’re the elite units of the bounty hunter’s Association," Taria answered, voice tight. "They hunt criminal bounty hunters. High-level ones. I’ve heard the stories..."
"And they were there?" Zevrak said slowly. "Watching us fight, but didn’t intervene?"
"Their job is to observe and contain criminal bounty hunters, not get involved in... petty squabbles," Zevrak replied.
"Petty squabble that led to two deaths?" Kaedros said flatly.
"What matters to the Inquisitors is that people diedz and the killers..." Zevrak glanced at Taria with mild distaste, "...were you two."
"And what’s your evidence?" Kaedros snapped. "Who’s going to believe two low-stage bounty hunters killed stage eight hunters?"
"You misunderstand." Zevrak leaned forward, eyes gleaming. "The Inquisitors don’t need a trial. If they deem someone guilty, they are."
A cold heat surged through Zevrak. So this was the plan. Let the Order’s assassins fail, then let the Association step in and use the fallout as leverage.
"I must admit," Zevrak said with a grin, "I’m impressed. Those two were bottom-feeders, but good at taking out fellow ants. The Order will miss them."